John W. Loop, UW Professor

Dr. John W. Loop, a University of Washington professor and an expert on new technologies in storing and transmitting radiological images, died Friday at his Seattle home after a brief illness. He was 65.

Loop was a hard worker who loved his career, but he always had enough time for a kind word and a smile. His wife, Joan, said that even while he was very ill, John's great wit shone through and he was able to make light of his illness. ``He was very witty, gracious and charming,'' she said.

As a professor of radiology, Loop led a major project at the UW to evaluate one of the most complex digital-imaging-network systems in North America. The computerized system makes it possible for physicians to send radiographic images over telephone lines - something Loop thought would revolutionize a physician's ability to consult with others over long distances.

Though Loop's career consumed most of his time, he loved to fish and would take fishing trips to Alaska when he could get away, he wife said. Loop was also a good cook and enjoyed cooking for his family, and was a lifelong football fan.

Loop was born in Belvidere, Ill., in 1924. He attended the University of Wyoming on a football scholarship, graduating in 1948.

He earned a medical degree from Harvard in 1952. He first came to Seattle as an intern at King County Hospital, now Harborview Medical Center, after graduating.

He completed a residency in radiology at the University of Chicago and then spent a year as a radiology fellow at the University of Lund, Sweden, in 1956-57. He was an instructor at the University of Chicago and Massachusetts Institute of Technology before he came to the University of Washington School of Medicine in 1959.

He was a staff radiologist for University Hospital when it opened its doors in 1959, and became a faculty member in 1962. From 1971 until 1987, he was chief of radiology at Harborview. He was acting chairman of the Department of Radiology from 1978 to 1984.

Along with his wife, Joan, Loop is survived by a daughter, Anna Lisa Loop, of Los Angeles; four sons, Peter H. Loop, of Beaverton, Ore., Charles T. Loop, of Palo Alto, Calif., and Thomas E. Loop and Jack Loop, both of Seattle; his mother, Theora T. Loop, of Bellevue; a sister, Molly Daughten, of New Philadelphia, Ohio; and a grandson, Erik Loop, of Beaverton, Ore. His first wife died in 1980.

Memorials can be given to the Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington.